2009 GEP Screening And Selection

[watmekiasu]

kiasimom:

And if your daughter really makes it into GEP, are you really keeping her in her current school according to her wish?

No, we'll talk about it. To me, the major adv of GEP is getting into a sec school of your choice thru DSA without relying solely on PSLE. It is one stress less. However, with all the extra workload the the GEP mums have been talking about, I dunno. I'm a very hands-off parent compared to many here - my dd has to learn and self-test on her tingxie, practice music on her own etc, etc. With the extra workload, would she be able to cope? If she winges....... :x

[watmekiasu]

kiasimom:

I heard from my son that several of his friends have the same comments as your daughter...

Mebbe they are from the same class - all influenced by the FT who, 2 days ago, told them that they do not have to change class/school if they decide not to take up the GEP offer. About half of the class went for the 2nd GEP testing. I think the bond between the pupils and FT is quite tight in this class - she treats them to McDonald meals and hv said she will make an appeal to be their FT again next year cos she thinks they are wonderful. :grphug:

[vlim]

ApronMama:

vlim:

yes.. when he knew he qualified for the second test.. he told me he would not want to go gep.. I told him to try his best and papa, mama would discuss with him again if he could get into gep

Vlim, how did you talk to your son then after the result was released so that he changed his mind to do GEP?

heeee... 'persuading' my son is my husband job. when i know it need a bit of persuading, I will pass the matter to my husband as my son is pretty stubborn with me around.. but he is scared of his father and will really sit down and listen to his reasoning .. . So when we know he was selected , my husband sit down with him and told him about how the program can benefit him and nurture him better ... so after some thoughts he agree to take up .. anyway I think he also want to try but maybe afraid and also he need to switch school. :lol:

[Emelyn]

vlim,


just to clarify...i'm getting confused.

Your son is P3 this year, took the GEP selection test this year, and got selected, is it ?

I thought your son already in GEP ? :?

[vlim]

watmekiasu:

kiasimom:

I heard from my son that several of his friends have the same comments as your daughter...

Mebbe they are from the same class - all influenced by the FT who, 2 days ago, told them that they do not have to change class/school if they decide not to take up the GEP offer. About half of the class went for the 2nd GEP testing. I think the bond between the pupils and FT is quite tight in this class - she treats them to McDonald meals and hv said she will make an appeal to be their FT again next year cos she thinks they are wonderful. :grphug:

I think those non gep pri schools do not like too many of their students go for gep as it take away their top performance students haaa :lol:

[vlim]

Emelyn:

vlim,


just to clarify...i'm getting confused.

Your son is P3 this year, took the GEP selection test this year, and got selected, is it ?

I thought your son already in GEP ? :?

oops sorry for the confusion he was p3 last yr and p4 gep this yr. :lol:

[Emelyn]

vlim:

Emelyn:

vlim,


just to clarify...i'm getting confused.

Your son is P3 this year, took the GEP selection test this year, and got selected, is it ?

I thought your son already in GEP ? :?

oops sorry for the confusion he was p3 last yr and p4 gep this yr. :lol:

haha... no worries... me getting old... a bit slow....

[kiasimom]

watmekiasu:

Mebbe they are from the same class - all influenced by the FT who, 2 days ago, told them that they do not have to change class/school if they decide not to take up the GEP offer. About half of the class went for the 2nd GEP testing. I think the bond between the pupils and FT is quite tight in this class - she treats them to McDonald meals and hv said she will make an appeal to be their FT again next year cos she thinks they are wonderful. :grphug:

Hee I don't think my son is in the same class as your child because he never mention his teacher will treat them to MacDonald's.

But I do agree FT and classmates have influence over my son.

[elkniwt]

watmekiasu:

So early, the results! Tot MOE's letter stated early Nov.


Hmm, not good as dd will be doing her SA2 during the 1st week of Nov. If it's bad news, sigh .................... Then again, she told me yesterday and today that she doesn't want to change school cos she loves her friends and FT too much. Btw her school doesn't offer GEP classes.

My dd also says she doesn't want to change school even if she got selected... Anyway, I am happy enough to know she qualify for the 2nd round. :lol: Not expecting any more that.

[2centsworthy]

I am a newbie… thought I could share what I do know about GEP.


Is GEP good for my child? It depends on several things which only you and your child have the answer. It also depends on the school you have chosen… which school to choose? During the briefing night… which should be in end of 1st wk or beginning of 2nd wk of Nov 09… be there really early - make sure you ask every school which you are interested in lots and lots of questions and then put down your choices in order of priority wisely. Do not take a school that is too far away from your home. Though the program is the same in all 9 centres however the school can decide to cut down on homework or teach less or do lots more. Some GEP centres do a lot on English Grammar in P4 year… however some do what is necessary. Some centres ensure the children do almost all the work in school and they do not have a lot of homework after school. Some schools run enrichment programs or the computer skills classes after curriculum hours… some schools manage it differently. Also check on the CCA timing and activities which your child can participate in… very importantly check on the timing of the CCA… some schools have their CCA on specific days of the week… some are on every weekday but it starts rather late e.g. 3pm or 3.30pm and ends at 5.30pm thereabout. So if you reside rather far then getting home after school would be very late in view of the traffic (car and human) from the office crowd. Ask about transport arrangements… not all schools provide transport to Woodlands, Sengkang, Toa Payoh… Nanyang school bus network seems to go everywhere… but not Rosyth, Catholic High, Henry Park, Nan Hua, St Hilda’s, Tao Nan, ACS, RGPS… so your child may have to find their own way home… else you have to go by the school to pick your child up or make alternative arrangemetns.

GEP P4 year is very smooth sailing - honeymoon year… , P5 has lots of project works, assignments, … etc… P6 year workload is quite heavy too. I do not believe in helping my child with any of his work and so he did sleep rather late… on occasions he slept past midnight… well he had lots of activities too… CCAs, music, martial arts (3 Xs a week), soccer,… He has no tuition. His computer skills at P4 year was really poor but by P6 it was really much better… thanks to all the computer classes the program provided. However some of his classmates had beautiful presentation slides… even with special cards to help the child to present. The child felt awkward and told the class that his parents did it for him. Marks are given for the project works which are incorporated into the SA1 and SA2 marks for the year. I guessed the temptation to help one’s child is there… points to ponder over… would the child really benefit from parents help… would it affect one’s child’s self esteem ultimately… is marks really that important?

Another question some parents often wonder - should one’s child go to GEP when selected? My 2 cents worth opinion - if he is really gifted… no special drilling, GEP preparation, tuition to help child to get into GEP… your child would benefit and enjoy the program. Otherwise, be prepared to send your child for tuition… From what I know, there are a number of GEPers being tuitioned or rather at enrichment centres and there are centres offering gifted stream classes enrichment/tuition classes, like Learning Lab, Just Education and also Success Learning Centre near Rosyth. Last year 2nd top scorer apparently had his name listed by Learning Lab… my friends saw him there and Learning Lab listed his name top of all the PSLE performers. Another friend told me that he was at Doctor Peh prior to P3 screening. I am sure there are many other centres out there offering help for gifted children … hmmm… Now that I have some idea of what GEP is about, perhaps I should start a tuition centre (oops enrichment centre since not many kids like to be associated with the word "tuition") - just joking!

Last year, I have my friends from several other GEP centres who told me that as many as 7 to 8 kids (out of 40 to 45 children) from their school did not get any DSA offers (not even wait-listed; not even one school) in each GEP centre. This year, I already know of at least 5 kids from my son’s circle of friends not having any offers. So GEP does not guarantee DSA. Do not be deceived.

I was told some GEPers are tuitioned for every subjects (some subjects more than 2 times a week, some at 2 centres for each subject)… and these kids just made it to 80% (combined CA1 & SA1 results) … and sadly some don’t. If you take just SA1 results (only pen and paper marks, no project work marks) for some children, the percentage drops … some by 3% and some barely made it to 80%. I have read some earlier comments - I agree what’s the rationale of being tuitioned for these so-called gifted kids?

I too know of some GEPers who do not have an active CCA or drop all other activities just to concentrate in their studies. Is this what education is all about? Do we need or our child need to be associated with the gifted programme? Is being "gifted" so important?

I know of some who made it to GEP but did not take up the offer. There’s this child I know personally - he has a very full life… lots of time to play, read, and doing what he likes best… he’s still very intelligent, in fact … had much time to develop other areas and EQ has gone up… plays golf, fencing, ballroom dancing, swims, plays very good piano… No tuition or enriched academically. His former classmate went on to GEP is not doing well academically at all but did enjoy the gifted program despite having to travel a distance to school daily over the last 3 years and having a much heavier workload. This child did get a DSA offer but his former classmate in GEP did not get a single offer.

I remember being told when I was much younger - don’t count your chickens before they are hatched. I was told that many children felt very confident after the 2nd round screening… out of 45-55 children who went on to 2nd round, only about 10-13 children somehow got in. However in Nanyang, Pei Hwa, Rosyth… there seem to be a higher percentage getting into the GEP. In any case, many of those who said the test were easy somehow did not get in. Those who said they couldn’t finish the papers or that it was kind of tough… somehow got into GEP. My concern is the devastation of the child when they hear they did not get into GEP… what does it mean? They are not "gifted"… I feel sad. To me, many children are gifted in their own way… it could be in linguistic, visual art, performing art, science… etc.

If your child made it to GEP, go for the briefing, go there early, ask lots of questions at the booth, make arrangement to even tour the school, then make a decision then. The GEP centres will be there to hand out brochures, answer questions etc… All in all my child likes the program, all his teachers, his friends, his school and the work.